"I've been having terrible nightmares. I'm afraid my father will hurt my mother and Ryan. I've seen menacing dark blotches floating about his head. These other pictures of him are marred by what look like roaming black algae blooms." I pull out a stack of thick shiny pictures taken over the last three month. "These shadow things have been showing up in all the polaroid pictures lately, but mostly around dad."

Yvonne looks at me with her ancient eyes. "And your mother fears Ryan will be hurt also, or in turn, hurt his father?"

I nod sadly. "Yes, I know she's afraid of that happening."

You're both ruled by your fears and the roots of fear go deep."

"You mean like the roots of a tree?" I remember Sabine making me help her remove the vines from the tree. They'll grown back ten times as thick.

"No, the roots of darkness. The opposite of fear is confidence. You must have confidence in yourself, Evelyn, even if you don't have confidence in your family. I met your father when your mother first married him. He had a soul sickness. I'm quite sure it came from his mother." She goes to the shelf on the wall and retrieves a duplicate dream catcher to the one above her bed. "Tell me more about your dreams."

"Something bad is always chasing me. Sometimes, it's a man with an axe. It wants to kill me, or anything it catches."

She nods. "Dark spirits that feed off of pain and suffering. Hate, fear and shame. They're parasites cannibalizing the life forces of others. These disembodied spirits appear in the folklore of a number of different Native American tribes, including the Cheyenne, Ojibwe, Cree, and others. These menacing parasites try to consume people, or to take revenge on them."

"I saw one over my brother's head. What should I do?"

"You can fight these entities in your dreams."

"What about a crucifix? Will that help protect us in our house?"

"Anything that helps give you confidence in your own power. She leans forward and puts a hand on mine. "You can do this, Evie. You're not a victim like your mother."

"Why do they keep you hidden away, aunt Yvonne?"

She shrugs. "No one is ever perfect. Everyone goes through cycles according to age and experience, but for those of a more hard scientific mind, the unknown is a frightening thing to be kept locked away."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I write a letter to Lauren explaining where I've been, excluding most of the details about my parent's private life. A few weeks later, I hear back from her.

I was wondering what happened to you! You just disappeared. Your father is a real jerk. When I called there asking for you, he just hung up. My mom was worried he'd murdered both of you and buried you in the basement. Your property is really neglected since Ryan's not there to cut the lawn. Speaking of Ryan, he came by last week with his new girlfriend. I don't know what he sees in her. Anyway, when are you coming home?"

Miss you,
Lauren.

I write back to tell her my mom's enrolled me in school here.

This isn't right. This isn't how it was supposed to be. I always imagined I'd love living in Canada, but they've placed me in a school with no English (if only I were smarter) The provinces look huge compared to the United States. I feel like I've landed in some alien land. We can't even immigrate here since my mother gave up her citizenship. Everything is so squeaky clean here they clean and smoke all the time.

Evie.